Sports Apparel & Footwear Brand Landscape

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The key things you need to know about Sports Apparel & Footwear, courtesy of caytoo’s popular Brand Landscape series.

Executive Summary

The sports apparel and footwear market is competitive and continually evolving, but its landscape has been carved by a collection of key players.

Nike, Adidas, Puma, Reebok, New Balance and Under Armour have all forged global footprints with majority strongholds in North America and Europe. However, the emergence of new markets where sports participation is high and populations are large, including China and APAC, are becoming increasingly appealing targets.

The big six also have new ‘disruptor brands’ to contend with, more aligned with contemporary culture and providing market competition in previously dominated areas. With the help of digital platforms, sport is essentially limitless. It is a unique channel through which brands can celebrate culture, engage with socio-political issues and the identity of their target consumer groups. In order to keep up, the big six have had to diversify.

Contemporary audiences increasingly engage with brands they can trust, wanting relationships based more on shared values that profit-driven motives. Industry leaders have needed to change tack, realigning their marketing and CSR objectives to relate with these demands and engage with issues of modern society.

As part of this, the big six have turned to creative campaigns and content marketing collaborations to help rejuvenate their image. Digital channels are a common tool brands utilise to target millennial consumers. Where these audiences are concerned, content is currency and collaborations are a tried-and-tested means to success. But whilst digital content remains critical to audience engagement, the big six continue to invest in flagship physical stores in strategic urban centres. The rise of eSports is also posing interesting investment opportunities for sports apparel brands.

Trend-wise, all have also shown a greater proclivity towards prioritising corporate social responsibility strategies, investing in women’s sports, becoming provocative trend-setters and being seen to give back, all to improve their appeal within consumer minds.